The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for dispensing lightweight articles from a stacked supply of such articles and more particularly to a dispensing apparatus for dispensing, in serial order, individual lightweight paper articles, such as lottery tickets.
Previous devices for the dispensing of a single article from a stacked supply of the articles are known in the art. Such devices find their application in the computer arts where they are used to feed single sheets of paper to a printer, as well as in the automated teller machine art where currency banknotes are dispensed in serial order from a supply of banknotes. An example of the latter application is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,549, issued Feb. 8, 1983. The apparatus disclosed in the '549 patent is complicated because a particularly configured banknote supply magazine and a curved roller having a configuration complementary to that of the supply magazine. The stated purpose behind these configurations is to increase the rigidity of single banknotes drawn from the bottom of a supply stack of banknotes. Such a device, although perhaps appropriate for the dispensing of brand new, crisp banknotes is believed to be incapable of dispensing lightweight, fragile paper articles from a stacked supply of such articles. Additionally, there is no mechanism disclosed in this patent by which access to the dispensing opening of the dispensing apparatus may be substantially blocked to prevent access from the exterior to the dispensing opening.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus of simpler structure than that disclosed in the aforementioned '549 patent, which apparatus may be used for dispensing single, lightweight paper articles from a stacked supply of such articles. The invention finds particular utility in the dispensing of paper lottery tickets.
Lotteries are growing in popularity and are used extensively in foreign countries on a national basis. One such example is the Brazilian lottery. Brazilian lottery tickets comprise an assembly of soft paper sheets having end dimensions of approximately 8 by 4 inches and glued together at the edges. Such tickets are typically formed by folding a thin paper blank of about 8 1/2 by 11 inches multiple times to create a number of folds. The edges of the folded paper are often glued together to maintain its shape. Not all of the folds are equal in width which results in an end product of varying thickness. These lottery tickets have heretofore not been available through vending machines because they are thin, lightweight and relatively fragile.
The present invention is therefore directed to an apparatus for use in dispensing sheet-like articles from a stacked supply of such articles and is particularly useful for the dispensing in serial order of thin, lightweight and fragile articles, such as the aforementioned Brazilian paper lottery tickets, in a reliable manner. Such an apparatus may be conveniently mounted in a vending machine to thereby permit automated purchases of such articles by users.